


Charged Up

by Politzania



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Battle Scene, Gen, Magical Creature, Post-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:22:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Politzania/pseuds/Politzania
Summary: Jim Rhodes joins the Avengers in fighting a magical creature and takes a pivotal role in saving the day.





	Charged Up

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Charged Up  
RhFE Bingo Square Filled: N9 - Attacked by a Creature  
IronHusbands Week: Monday Prompt: Magic  
Author: Politzania/PoliZ  
Rating: General  
Pairing(s): Tony Stark & Rhodey  
Warnings/Triggers: none  
Summary: Jim Rhodes joins the Avengers in fighting a magical creature and takes a pivotal role in saving the day.

“This is bullshit!” Jim executed a quick barrel roll to evade the blob of glowing goo that the creature from who-the-hell-knows-where had just thrown at him. He’d seen the goo eat right through the roof of an armored truck and had no doubt it would do something similar to the War Machine armor. 

“Actually, for the Avengers, this is a Tuesday.” Tony quipped as he fired a repulsor blast into what they were calling the creature’s face. It definitely had a mouth, and what seemed to be eyes — way too goddamned many eyes — above it. The creature had materialized out of nowhere about an hour ago and started wreaking havoc on the Lower East Side. 

“We’re still trying to get a hold of Strange and Maximoff, right?” Tony asked, while Jim followed up on Tony’s blast with a burst from his shoulder-mounted machine gun. He did a mental fist pump as it tore a hole through their opponent; unfortunately, the hole oozed closed just a few minutes later. Tony’s blasters and Thor’s lightning blasts seemed to be the only thing that actually did damage to the creature. 

“Affirmative - but neither are responding. ” Rogers’ crisp response came across the comms. Captain America and Black Widow were on the ground coordinating the evacuation, while Falcon was giving Hawkeye a lift to another building to keep out of the zone of destruction. 

“Great - so what are we supposed to do?” Barton asked, sending another arrow into one of the creature’s eyes. “Running low on ammo over here. Gotta try to make what I have left count.” Jim scanned through his armaments list to see if he had anything that might pack more of a punch than the machine gun. The laser would require a degree of precision that would be difficult to achieve while evading the creature’s flailing tentacles. However, he did have a half-dozen short range missiles in his arsenal. 

“My suggestion is we send this Cosmic Kraken back to the deep.” Tony chimed in. “Herd it to the river and then fry the bastard with 1.21 gigawatts, since electricity is about the only thing that seems to hurt it.” 

“How are we gonna pump enough juice into the river to zap him to oblivion, Tones?” 

“Hey, Point Break, how long can you hold your breath?” Tony called out over the comms. 

“After the exertion of this battle, not long, I fear,” Thor replied, conjuring another lightning bolt and letting it fly at the creature. 

“We could cut a power cable within spitting distance of Tall, Dark and Gruesome and drop it in the water,” Tony mused, even as he continued a steady barrage of repulsor blasts. Not that Jim was jealous or anything, but yeah, he was going to be hitting Tony up for a few upgrades after this. 

“That’s gonna piss off ConEd big time,” Barton interjected. 

“We’ll let Damage Control deal with that. Unless anyone else has a better idea?”  
Jim agreed with Tony; he figured it was their best shot. Speaking of which, he fired a pair of missiles at what his AI had determined was the creature’s center of mass. 

The missiles blew a satisfying crevasse in the creature, deep enough that it couldn’t seem to fill it back in. It roared in what they presumed was pain, and lashed out with its tentacles, knocking over a cell tower. It shied away from the resultant sparks and shambled closer to the river. 

“Nice job, Rhodes!” Wilson called out. After dropping Hawkeye on the highest rooftop in the area, he had made a few strafing runs, more to annoy the creature and keep it distracted than to actually do any damage. 

They started herding the creature towards the East River,, blasting and shooting the creature repeatedly. Jim peeled off to scout out the best options for actually getting the creature into the water while doing the least amount of damage. Through the East River park looked to be their best bet; and according to his AI, there was a ConEd cable running along the Williamsburg bridge that would give them the power they needed. 

“Send the bastard my way, guys!” He shot off a few flares to mark his position. It was easy enough to see where the creature and his teammates were, as it was head and shoulders taller than the majority of the buildings between it and where he hovered over the Fire Boat house. 

The creature roared again as Thor and Tony both unleashed their weapons, blue light crackling and dancing over its skin. It lurched in Jim’s direction, walking through and over the buildings until it reached FDR Parkway. “Keep it near, but not on the Bridge,” Jim called out. “I’ll get the cable!” 

He dove under the bridge, shining a spotlight on the underside to find what he needed. The power cable was well-supported by bands every yard or so - he’d have to yank it free of those in order to complete their plan. 

Jim wielded his laser cutter, taking several long moments to cut through the foot-thick cable. He tugged one end away from the supports, being careful not to touch anything else and inadvertently complete a circuit. Jim flew towards the creature, and once he thought he had enough free length, he dropped the live end into the water. 

Jim’s heart stopped as Tony was knocked violently out of the air by a flailing tentacle as the monster was electrocuted. He landed hard just on the edge of the Promenade, skidding into the landscaping. “Tony!” 

Jim landed hard as well and ran to where Iron Man lay motionless at the base of a tree. The stench of cooked monster flesh hung heavy in the air as Jim retracted his gauntlets and helmet. He quickly ran his fingers along the side of the Iron Man helmet, feeling for the manual latches. The faceplate of the armor came free to show his best friend’s face. 

“Five more minutes, Mom,” Tony mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut against the sudden sunlight. 

“Gotta check your pupils, see if you’ve had a concussion.” Jim said, relieved that Tony was coherent enough to make a joke. 

“Don’t think there’s any ‘if’ about it,” Tony replied, wrinkling his nose disgustedly. “I take it the beast is toast?” 

“Seems to be.” Jim looked back over his shoulder at the carcass; while the tentacles were still moving, it seemed to be random twitches, nothing more. “Though it’s gonna be a hell of a cleanup.”


End file.
